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You'd like to talk about yourself as a naturalist,
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as opposed to a scientist.
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What's the difference?
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Science is very factual oriented,
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and that's good.
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I'm not saying there's anything against that,
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but what's missing in so many
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ethological scientists
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is the sense of wonder and awe
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and not wanting everything to be explained
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because some things never can be explained.
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I'm pretty sure about that.
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I've seen the films of you climbing up trees
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and trying to get a glimpse of chimps,
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but we've gotten so used to the Attenborough documentaries
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where we're so up close to every species.
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That we've kind of take it for granted
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how hard it was to even see a chimp.
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The early observations were all through binoculars,
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you know, from a reasonable distance.
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And I was getting really worried
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because with money for six months.
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And I knew if I didn't see sort of exciting things
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before the money ran out,
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that would be the end of the dream.
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Well that was my goal as a child,
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to live with wild animals
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and write books about them.
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That was, that was the whole goal that I had.
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You and your new book, and in some of your other books,
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you dedicate, you make a dedication
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to a primate named David Greybeard
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who became, I guess, along with Louis Leakey
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was one of the most important primates in your life
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because he sort of opened the door for you, correct?
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Do you have a picture of him there?
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Absolutely, the very handsome.
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Tell me about David's contribution to your mission.
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Well David's, David contributed in many ways.
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First of all, by letting me get close to him.
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But the real breakthrough
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was seeing David using and making tools,
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grass stems to fish termites from their underground burrows.
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You know at the time it was thought humans
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and only humans used and made tools.
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And that was what enabled Leakey to go to the Geographic.
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They agreed that they fund the research
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when that six months money ran out.
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And they sent a filmmaker, Hugo Van Lawick
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who was able to document the behavior
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that I was gradually learning more and more about
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as the other chimps came to accept me as well.
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You were, of course, studying chimpanzees as mothers.
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You had a bunch of role models that you could look at.
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Could you talk about a couple of the mother chimps
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and what you learned from them?
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What I really got from the chimps
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were two important things.
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One, they had fun with their infants.
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They played with them, they laugh,
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and I thought I'm going to have fun with my baby too.
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And the other thing was
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the tremendous importance of support
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in their first couple of years,
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which is really important for our children too.
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So they have, to have a little group,
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two or three supportive adults
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who are always there, continuity for their child.
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It gave that child confidence.
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When you had your son and he was with you
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at least a lot of the time in Africa,
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Grub, as you call you him.
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Do you still call him Grub at this stage?
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Yup, I still call him Grub.
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Sometimes a nickname just sticks.
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And now that brings me to The Book of Hope,
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which is a called a survival guide for trying times.
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Wonderful timing, Jane.
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We do need some hope right now.
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We do.
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This book and hope is so important now
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is because if you don't have hope,
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then why bother to do anything?
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If you don't think that what you do
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is going to make a difference,
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why bother to do it?
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Why not just sit back, eat, drink, and be merry,
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for tomorrow, we die.
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[laughing]
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You know, so if,
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if we don't get together and take action,
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then no,
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I think our race of species is doomed.
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People in their individual lives are beginning to think
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about, you know, how you behave and what you buy.
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Did they tom the environment?
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Was it cruel to animals?
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Is it cheap because of unfair wages or,
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forced labor?
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And if so, don't buy it.
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So, you know, we're really beginning to use our brains
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to leave lighter ecological footprints.
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When I was growing up,
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I grew up in the sixties and seventies.
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So it was the era of the space program
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and National Geographic and Jane Goodall.
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What could we do to bring those good old days back,
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where kids grow up, not distrusting science, but loving it.
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You know, I meet like a CEO
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whose company is really damaging the environment.
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And how do you, how do you get,
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how do you get through to that person?
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It isn't any good pointing fingers, blaming, arguing,
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because then the brain of that man
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is going to be refuting you,
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finding, thinking of ways that he can refute you.
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I think people must change from within.
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And so the way to get into a person's heart
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is by telling stories.
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Just out of curiousity, where does your energy come from?
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I mean, I am exhausted just thinking
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about all the things you do.
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What, what pushes you forward?
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You know, as I get older,
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I'm nearly dearly, 88 now.
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I've got less time left.
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I have to do more and more and more
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because there's so much to do.
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But the main thing is to inspire others.
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And the Jane Goodall Institutes, 24 around the world,
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the Roots and Shoots groups,
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thousands of young people
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and all the ones who've been through it
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and take the values with them,
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respect for all life.
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This is actually a conversation
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I've waited my entire life to have.
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You one of my heroes
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and you're the hero of millions of others.
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So I just want to send you my gratitude and my love.
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Well, thank you too.
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And you know, it's been really lovely talking to you.
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And I hope that when I'm next over
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your side of the Atlantic,
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we can meet in person and share a whiskey.
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I will hold you to that.
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